The Bitter End, Historic concert hall in Greenwich Village, United States
The Bitter End is a concert hall with café and club at 147 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, a Manhattan neighborhood linked to live music for decades. The low brick walls, wooden benches, and narrow rectangle of the stage create a tight space where audience and performers stand only a few feet apart.
Fred Weintraub opened the hall in 1961 during a time when small music spots in Greenwich Village drew young performers looking for a place to play in front of an audience. In the mid-seventies, the club temporarily changed its name to The Other End, then returned to the original title.
Every night of the week, local performers and visitors from around the city step onto this small stage that has stayed open to all styles over the decades. Musicians often mention that the room with its wooden benches and low ceiling brings the audience so close to the microphones that a quiet guitar riff or spoken word fills every corner.
The stage is set up for performers with their own instruments, but some amplifiers, a piano, and a Hammond organ are available on site. Visitors should arrive early, as seating on the wooden benches is limited and fills quickly on popular nights.
The Meyer Sound system with four loudspeakers spreads across the room so that even quiet voices or individual strings remain clearly audible. Multiple monitor mixes allow musicians on stage to hear their own instruments and those of their bandmates at the same time.
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